[EL] ELB News 10/16/13--voter ID

[Lori Minnite]

American scholars work on all kinds of arcana.  Has anyone been to APSA 
lately?  However, in this instance, the preoccupation is with the way 
electoral rules shape the electorate.  The voter ID issue is not really 
about the simple abstract reasonableness behind requiring a national 
identity card system that excludes no eligible citizen.  What's more 
significant and concerning is how the issue fits into a larger history 
of exclusion and manipulation to suppress minorities and the low income 
vote.  I hope the last point isn't meant to suggest that if we were to 
adopt a national ID card, we'd get the Swedish welfare state and 
non-citizen voting for local elections.  If so, I'm changing position.

Lori Minnite

On 10/16/2013 10:43 AM, Mark Rush wrote:
> While voter ID laws can be used for voter suppression, it strikes me 
> as quite odd that American scholars would preoccupy themselves with 
> the issue--or that Posner would express regrets.
>
>
> Democracies around the world require some sort of ID simply to keep 
> accurate records of who voted.  Frequently, these are national ID 
> cards.  Democracy manages to function despite the ID requirements.
>
>
> -- 
> Mark Rush
>
>
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